A guide to the Japanese underworld, Japanese pop-culture, yakuza and everything dark under the sun.

Donate to JSRC

Japan Subculture Research Center is an independent website with original reporting on all aspects of Japanese society. If you enjoy the website and support investigative journalism, please donate a little of your spare yen (or dollars) to our efforts. Thank you! よろしくお願いします

Abysmal Man: A Charisma Man in Japan For Our Generation

If you have been in Japan long enough, you know Charisma Man, the ubiquitous white English teacher (often Canadian on a working holiday) who finds himself transformed into a super powerful chick magnet as soon as he arrives upon these shore in the Land of The Rising Sun. From the website, here is his story.

Charisma Man first appeared in the February 1998 issue of the ‘The Alien’ magazine, and immediately catapulted into legendary-status among readers in Japan’s expat/Gaijin world. The creator of the strip, Larry Rodney, teamed up with a graphic designer friend, Glen Schroeder, both from Canada, to produce the first year of outstanding strips. The strips continued through 2002 with Neil Garscadden doing the writing and Wayne Wilson providing the art work. At the end of 2002, a book containing all the original strips was published and quick sales further documented its appeal. ‘Charisma Man’ has now become common vernacular among ex-pats in Japan and other countries. This website provides all the info you need to keep up to date with all the latest Charisma Man developments.

The popular comic strip has long ceased, and the days when English conversation (英会話) were well paying and a little spoken Japanese could get you on TV—those days are gone, probably never to return.

So we reimagined Charisma Man, after way too many years in Japan—without ever learning the language or blending into the culture. Meet “Abysmal Man”–an anti-hero for a new era. Dripping with residual charm, cultural arrogance and ex-pat existential ennui, he may be waiting somewhere in Japan at a bar stool near you.

The expat in Japan anti-hero updated for modern times. Dude, the party is over. Heartland closed in January this year. Maybe it’s time to to move on?